


Catching Feelings

by MistakenAngel



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Friendship, Love Confessions, Male-Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:08:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29797215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistakenAngel/pseuds/MistakenAngel
Summary: Shane and Claudia have been best friends since grade school, and they have shared everything. But after the last Halloween party before Senior year begins, a kiss shared between them just before bed, begins to change everything for them. What happens when friendship becomes love, and will it blossom between these two best friends? Well, read and find out, folks...
Comments: 3





	1. Chapter 1

Claudia

Shane Ashford and I have been friends since virtually still in our mother's wombs. Okay, that sounds creepy, but I promise that it's not. No, our mothers were best friends since high school, and it continued on to their college life. They were like the sisters they never had, sisters from another mother, that kind of thing. Anyways, they reunited in lamaze class, and all through being pregnant bonded.

They bought two neighboring houses, and Shane and I became fast friends ever since before we could walk. We trusted one another with all of our secrets, and even when a drunk driver killed my dad when I was thirteen, Shane was there as my rock solid support during and after the wake and funeral.

Aimee Williams and Leo Karascu became our fast friends as well when we started high school, and we have always been an inseparable family unit. However, things began to change in Sophmore year when Leo and Aimee decided to break the friend zone, and make a go of dating.

Needless to say, things didn't end well...and in fact, for a long time, I was worried that our friend circle was forever broken. But that was a year ago, and now, we were Juniors, and so I suppose that my story really begins when the news of Joey Bianchi's Halloween party spread like wildfire all throughout St Mary's High school, and virtually the entire school was invited to attend as a way of welcoming in the new school year....


	2. Chapter 2

Claudia

I got the fateful text from Aimee just as I parked my car in the student parking lot, and headed to my locker for Home Room. Why, as a private school, we needed to have homeroom, I had no idea, but that was the way it was, I guess. The only difference about our homeroom classes was the fact that it wasn't co ed. Aimee, who was a petite black girl with almost blinding dyed, straight red hair, rushed up to me, excited about something big.

"Girl, didn't you hear? Didn't you??" She almost shouted.

My mind drew up a blank on that one. "Um, no, but is it about your hair? I thought you liked it blue."

Aimee rolled her hazel eyes. "Oh my God, check your phone."

I did, and read the text. "Eww, it's at Bianchi's house. You know he only invited me, because he wants to get in my pants."

I saw Shane break off from his Soccer teammates and approach us. On the surface, Shane Ashford looks nothing like a jock. In fact, you could easily classify him as a goth or emo boy, because he rarely wears any color but black, and his winter coats are black leather. Also, people are either repelled by him right away, due to his intimidating front, but with me, he is just Shane to me: my caring, annoying best friend since forever.

"Hey, Claude," He greeted me, and hugged me. I got a whiff of his clean cologne, and scent that I always liked underneath it all that was just Shane alone. "I heard about the party. Are you going?"

"Parties are lame."

"True, but Bianchi is a sleaze bag, and what kind of friend would I be if I didn't watch out for you?" He pointed out.

I fought back the blush that threatened to break out on my skin. Wait, what the hell? Why was I blushing? "Thanks, _dad_. But you didn't tell me if you were going or not."

Shane chuckled, "Fine, you got me there. But yeah, I'm going."

"Then I will too."  
"Cool. What are you going to wear?"  
"It's a surprise."  
"Isn't it always with you?"  
"Yep."

He looked like he was going to say something else but the bell rang. "I'll see you at lunch?" I asked.

"Definitely."

We went our separate ways, and met up when it was time for lunch. Aimee and Leo chatted away about the upcoming Halloween party at Joey Bianchi's, but I secretly wanted to join Shane at the artsy lunch table, because I didn't want to be reminded that the most popular boy in my high school decided to try and throw his hat into the ring as it were, and attempt to deflower me. Ewww!

Okay, full disclosure here, I don't find Joe Bianchi repulsive because he's ugly, or whatever, but he has this player reputation, and any girl who has a hint of class wouldn't touch that STD magnet with a ten foot pole. Sure, he's Quarterback on the football team, he's muscular, dark haired, with forest green and brown eyes, but God, is he ever a douche. If I gave into his advances, I would be just one check mark off of his list of virgins to deflower by the end of Senior year, and I simply have more class than that. Besides, I'm saving myself for the right guy, no matter what...

💞💞

Aimee

She followed Claudia to her house, which was located in a very posh part of town, roughly ten miles from the Bianchi's crazy party mansion. Shane lived right next to her, and she wished that she lived that close to Leo, honestly. She decided to dress as a Nurse for the party, and had no idea what Leo would go as. But then again, she wouldn't have to find out long, considering that the party was going to start at seven, and go Lord knows however long.

She had to make up some lame study party excuse to her mom so she could even go to Claudia's, and she hated that ever since dad ran off with his last secretary, her mom had her put on a rather tight leash. Geez, she didn't even tell her mom that she was dating a hot Asian guy last year. Yep, not a 'brother'? Nope, she didn't need the drama that would cause.

But did she want him after their explosive break up last year over a simple harmless flirting? That was the real question in Aimee's mind as she parked her dark green Jeep Grand Cherokee. The break up tore their little family unit apart, and she so didn't want that. Maybe Claudia and Shane had the right idea by making that pact during Freshman year to not date each other. Or...maybe she herself was just going crazy.

Aimee gripped the steering wheel for a moment, and relaxed. "Just get out of the fucking car, girl. Geez, worry about your inner angst later."

Aimee obeyed her spoken command, and killed the engine, grabbed her purse, and locked the Jeep. The Stratfords and Ashfords were loaded, like crazy loaded, not even the Bianchi's were as loaded as them. Sure, Claudia and Shane could claim that they 'lived next door,' and they did...technically, but try a whole field apart where both parties lived in relative seclusion; must be nice to be freaking rich and white.

The heels of her thigh high white lame' boots clicked on the cobblestone circular driveway as she walked up to the modern castle-like mansion that was the Stratford residence. She pressed the doorbell to the medieval paneled door, complete with a decorative black rod iron hinge, and Claudia's voice came over the intercom: "Thank you, fashion deity! Come in, the door is unlocked now. I'm so damn close to throwing out half my costumes in frustration right now."

"I'll be right up, girl."  
"Thanks, my spicy Glinda."

Aimee laughed at the private joke as she went inside the palatial mansion. When she was four, her fave character in the whole world was Glinda from the Wizard of Oz, so her mom sewed her a pink costume, and she was Glinda that year. Years later, when she became friends with Claudia, she told her that story, and said she was better than the original Glinda because she looked fire in that outfit, and so Aimee called herself spicy Glinda, and the nickname stuck. Leo and Shane didn't get it, being guys, but Leo said she looked cute in her pink dress, and that was almost the start of her crush on him to begin with.

The interior of Claudia's house looked like something out of Architectural Digest, and looked like people barely lived in this house. Shane's house was the same way, but darker, and only his rooms upstairs looked like a teenaged boy inhabited them. Aimee found Claudia's bedroom easily enough, but even if she didn't know where her best friend's room was, one only had to follow the sound of mom and dad era rock music blasting on the speakers.

"Hey, Aim's," Claudia greeted. "Come in. I can't decide on Catwoman or Space Alien Queen for tonight."

"Please tell me it's not a creepy alien," Aimee teased. "I know you're into some weird movies sometimes, girl."

Claudia laughed, "Um, no, I don't want to scare people...well, at least everyone except Britney."

Aimee groaned, "Oh my God, girl, she goes to Fairview, not St Mary's now. There's no way she's gonna hang out at Bianchi's tonight. Besides, I'm sure she's forgotten all about your feud."

Claudia rolled her eyes. "Um, not likely. She's a basic spoiled bitch, and if she sees Shane there she's going to try to get her cheap ass press on claws into him. 'Emo tool,' or not, as she called him last, she thinks just because Jason Pitts liked me in freaking Kindergarten and not her then that means any guy friend of mine is hers. Except for Leo, she calls him a 'filthy Chi Con,' or whatever."

"Joke's on her, because Leo's Japanese," Aimee pointed out. "Ugh, I'm sick of dumb racist bitches like her any way. I hope she stays in the ninth circle of Hell where she belongs."

They shared a laugh over that, and rifled through Claudia's old Halloween costumes. Aimee looked over the silver lame shift dress that was the Alien Queen, and then the Catwoman costume.

"You totally need to go as Catwoman, I'm feeling the DC vibes," Aimee suggested.

"I'm not brunette like Anne Hathaway, though," Claudia objected, pushing her straight blonde hair out of her face. "Are you sure it's not too slutty?"

"Heck no, you're a total babe."  
"Thanks, Aim's."  
"You bet, Claude."  
"Only Shane can call me that."  
"Oh. Right, sorry."

Claudia got changed, and she looked great, and sexy in the whole black get up. If her goal was to get every boy at the party to gawk at her, then she definitely succeeded. Claudia called her limo service on her phone, and they arrived in style at the Bianchi's estate.

The place was packed, and was party central, but somewhere in the crowd as she lost sight of Claudia was Leo Karascu, and she had one goal in mind, and that was to see if he really wanted to get back together with her or not...


	3. Chapter 3

Shane

He felt like an idiot dressed in his black and white striped shirt and black pants. He had on a beanie he hasn't worn since his beatnik phase in middle school, and a stupid black mask. Valerie Shroder and the other drama kids said that they were going to celebrate Halloween on the Bluffs, which overlooked the ocean on the northernmost area of town, and there would be no costumes. But no, here he was with a cheesy red Solo cup in his hand nursing a Long Island iced tea while he waited to see if Joe Bianchi was going to make the moves on Claudia Stratford.

He liked this drink normally, but it had no taste to him now as he people watched the school idiots splash and play in the pool outside on the deck outside. Ever since his parents separated two years ago, Shane had felt like he had aged ten plus years, instead of turning eighteen. Of course, being that his dad was the CEO of Ashford Tech, one of the leading developers of Artificial Intelligence, he certainly could afford a divorce. But for the sake of his parent's public reputation, his parents simply decided to live separately in other countries. Dad got Shane in the arrangement, and mom got to live in Malaysia with whatever male companionship she wanted. Thank God, he was an only child, because otherwise having a younger sibling would be difficult on them.

The separation was honestly harder on Mrs Stratford, because his mom and Claudia's mom were really tight since high school themselves, but they kept in contact all through this.

Leo Karascu approached him, and rolled his eyes, "Are you seriously gonna brood all night? There's so much trim here for the taking."

Shane chuckled, "I'm not interested in that tonight. I'm only here to see Claudia."

Leo smirked, "Uh huh, thought so. What's up with you two? Ever since that Britney thing in driver's ed during last summer you've put the breaks on dating, why?"

Shane had no logical explanation for that, really. Ever since he began liking girls at puberty, he tried to pick girls who were at least pretty. But when Claudia came back from her backpacking trip in the south of France over last summer, he began to see her as...well, a girl, and not as his best friend, or worse, the sister he never had.

"Who are you, Dr Phil or something?" Shane laughed it off. "Maybe I think there's more important things in life than getting good trim. Besides, Claude and I made that pact in Freshman year to not date each other. You and Aimee crashed and burned, and you're dating left and right."

"She made that choice not me, now, stop moping around, dude, and go dance or something," Leo urged.

Shane reluctantly agreed, and he lost track of time. Until, Claudia showed up, and that was when the She Devil herself arrived: Britney Metz, and she was already drunk...

💞💞

Claudia

Joey Bianchi's mansion was a stereotypical Mediterranean style mansion, and it was rustic, and pretty alright. Too bad he was a total tool, and STD sponge. Aimee and I soon got lost in the crowd, but I had the goal of seeing what Shane was going to wear as his costume, and I wasn't going to let a mere crowd stand in my way.

I found myself a regular Coke, and pretended it was booze, because I find alcohol to be terrible shit. A drunk driver killed my father, after all, and so I swore off the stuff even before I could legally drink it. I slowly pushed my way through the crowd, and found Shane in the main living room, and of course, the She Devil herself was trying to dance with my best friend.

How do I describe a demon clad in a silver alien Queen costume? Well, on the surface, if one didn't know that she was a she-demon, one would describe her body as looking like a living Barbie doll with perfect fake boobs, curly red hair, and perfect white teeth, which I know, weren't always perfect. Her nose used to be huge like a Jewish guy's nose, and she was a fat little girl. But, I promise, folks, she was a spoiled little brat even in grade school.

Britney was trying to grind on Shane, who was dressed like a burglar...or Hamburglar from McDonald's, I had no idea what his costume was about, but it was cute, no doubt about it.

"Get off me, Britney!" Shane shouted, shoving her off of him.

She fake pouted, "But Shannnie! Baby, please?? Didn't summer's driver's ed mean nothing to you? You said yourself that you were done waiting for the ice queen to de thaw."

I felt the redness start to creep into my field of vision. What. The. Fuck?? I stormed up to She Devil. "Satan called, and he said it's your turn with the kids this weekend," I called out.

Britney turned her mud brown eyes in my direction. "Of course, the ice queen is here. What was your song again, 'let it go?' Yeah, like get out the door, bitch, because Shannnie is mine."

"I am?" Shane drawled, rolling his silvery gray eyes. "Huh? That's news to me, because I think my girl has just arrived, isn't that right, babe?"

I felt a blush rush to my cheeks, because he sounded so sincere, but then again, he was one of the best in the drama club. I cleared my throat, and wrapped an arm around his waist, and kissed his cheek for good measure, "Oh yes, that's right, hon. And I don't think our evening includes performing a seance to get you back to the devil's harem."

Britney rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm out of here."

As soon as Britney was out of the house,   
I let go of Shane. "That was good. Let's dance."

"Sure."

We danced for a bit, nothing but a friendly dance, and Aimee tried looking for Leo, but Leo apparently found someone else to kiss, and that was Ivory King. Aimee approached us both, and she asked Shane if she could borrow me.

"Sure, go ahead, I'll be at the bar."  
"Cool."

Aimee saw two guys eying her, a tall black guy on the school Soccer team, and a pasty albino boy with spiky dark blue hair. "Soo, which one should I go for? Milky, or Chocolate Delight?"

I wasn't the least bit attracted to either guy if truth be told, but I couldn't tell my best friend that. "Chocolate Delight, I think. I think you would break Milky in half based on how loud you are in bed."

Aimee giggled, blushing, "So? I can't help that I like having a good time. Chocolate Delight it is."

She went over to the black guy, and they seemed to hit it off. Aimee began making out with her new guy, and Leo was making out with Ivory. Shane led me to the bar, and had some sodas before his phone buzzed with a fresh text message.

Shane frowned as he looked at it. "Shit. My dad is demanding I get home right away, and I don't want to go home."

"Well...you could stay the night at my house," I suggested. "I know we haven't done that in a long time, and you don't have to get yelled at by him for breaking curfew."

Shane's silvery gray eyes twinkled. "That's a great idea. I'll text him now."

"Great."

He popped off a text to his dad, and Shane smiled when he got his dad's reply. "He says it's fine. Come on, I'm tired of this scene anyway."

I found Leo and Aimee, and we told them we were leaving. They gave us hugs, and told us to drive safe. Shane escorted me to his motorcycle, and I got on. He drove me home, and of course, my home was blissfully parental unit free. We went upstairs and took separate showers, and got ready for bed. Shane could have slept in one of the guest bedrooms, of course, but we always slept in the same bed during sleepovers since we were little, and this time was no different. But if I knew then what I know now, I'm not certain if I would have done things differently, and maybe it was for the best in the long run, after all...


	4. Chapter 4

Claudia

I heard the knock on my bedroom door, and knew that Shane was on the other side. My mom had given him a bedroom a long time ago, and he had some clothes here from a few years back, but we never told her that we always slept in the same bed together ever since we were little. But something about this night felt different, and when I answered the door, he knew it.

"Hey."  
"Hey."

Shane raked a hand through his shoulder length black hair, and blushed, "Look, I get it if you don't want to sleep side by side tonight, but...well, we've always done that, and I would feel weird if we didn't. So...um, could we?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I thought of coming to ask you for that same thing. I...Shit, I have no clue why I feel nervous right now, but..yeah, come in."

He did, and I locked the door behind me. Shane rose an eyebrow at that, but I explained, "My mom would have a cow if I had a guy in my bed."

Shane laughed, "It's just me, Claude. But yeah, I see what you mean, your mom kinda keeps you on a tight leash. Come on, let's get under the covers."

"Okay."

I took off my robe, revealing my gray tank top and matching boy short panties. He gave my figure a nice look over, but didn't say anything. He got into bed first, and I got in after him, and shut off the bedroom lights. My bedroom was cloaked in darkness, and as my eyes adjusted to the dark, I snuggled up against Shane, revelling in the steady beating of his heart, and the overall warmth of his body.

I thought to go to sleep immediately, but of course, I had to address the rumor Aimee gave me on the way to Joey Bianchi's party. "Shane, are you awake?"

"Yep."

"Aims heard a rumor you like someone in our school," I blurted out.

Shane sighed heavily, "Yeah, it's true."  
"Oh. Do I know her?"  
He chuckled. "Yes."  
"Well, who is she?"  
"I will tell you in time."

I turned to face him, and our faces were inches apart. Shane tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear, and the way he looked at me then made my heart race, because it was the look a guy gives his lover, not his best friend. I always knew Shane was attractive, and charismatic and all of that, but it wasn't until recently that I began to notice him as a boy I could crush on. Crushing on a friend isn't wrong, right?

He inched towards me, and he was breathing just as heavily as me, and the tension rose to a fever pitch: would he kiss me, or would I kiss him? Shane closed the distance, and pressed his lips to mine. I should have just pulled away from him, and demanded that he sleep in his guest bedroom, but I couldn't, this felt too...right, too perfect.

"I'm sorry," He whispered. "I should have asked first."

"Don't. I liked it. Could you...kiss me? For real?" I asked.

He nodded, and he softly, gently kissed me. There was no rush as our lips moved over each other, nor was there any rush when his tongue entered my mouth, we just let it happen naturally. He trailed his lips down my neck, and cupped my breasts through my thin tank top, and I ran my hands down his toned chest to briefly grab his butt. We made out for a bit, and Shane kissed me one last time, and said softly, "We need to stop, before we do something we're both not ready for."

"Okay. Will you hold me, though?"  
He kissed me lightly. "I can do that."

We settled in to sleep, and the rest of the night I slept very well. But I was not aware until that moment just how fateful that first kiss between us really was, because it became the catalyst for everything that happened between us after that....

💞💞💞

Flashback....

_The playground is full of little kids playing on the swings and jungle Jim set. Mom and dad are enjoying the fresh Sunday afternoon air, and Mr and Mrs Ashford are there too. They are both so nice, but Claudia is looking for Shane._

_She finds him playing in the sand box, and is making a sandcastle. The little blonde girl approaches him from behind and covers his eyes._

" _Guess who?" She giggles._

_Shane giggles too, and begins tickling her. The two children giggle and playfight, and get their Sunday clothes all dirty. Claudia scrapes her knee, and begins crying. Shane frowns, but unlike most boys his age, he doesn't tease her for 'being a baby,' or anything like that._

_"I'm sorry, Claude," He says. "Can I see it?"_

_The little girl shows him her scuffed up knee from scraping it on the edge of the sandbox. Shane kisses it, and he says, "Mommy says that if you kiss a boo boo it will all go away."_

_Claudia laughs, "It feels all better now. Hey, do you wanna be like mommy and daddy one day?"_

_"They spread cooties."_

_"You just did when you kissed my knee. So what?" She challenges._

_Shane shrugs his shoulders. "So? I like you, you like me. We should do it."_

_" 'Kay. Like, how?"_   
_"I kiss your hand, you kiss mine."_

_Both children giggle. Claudia says, "Okay. One...two...three..."_

_She kisses his hand, and he kisses hers. "There, now we're all like mommy and daddy, and no-one in school can mess that up."_

_"Okay.."_


	5. Chapter 5

Shane

He woke up with Claudia in his arms, and the feeling of rightness almost overpowered him. He kissed her. Like, a full on, no holds barred kiss. He kissed his best friend since forever, and he wanted to do it again, he discovered. He gently moved aside Claudia's blonde hair from her face, and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

She stirred slightly. "Nuh uh, you're warm...stay."

He chuckled, "No can do sleeping beauty. We have school to get to."

Claudia stirred to full wakefulness, and she realized that she was only wearing a thin tank top and panties. "Oh! Oh my God, did we um...last night?"

Shane laughed, "Um, no. I would definitely remember if we had had sex last night. We did make out a bit though, so there is that and--"

She smacked him with a pillow. "You idiot! What about our pact?? We promised each other that we wouldn't do this...kind of thing. Ever since Aimee and Leo broke up, remember?"

He took her hands in his. "Claudia, come on, we just kissed and made out. I swear that we didn't do anything else. Yeah, I was a little drunk last night, but I didn't mind what we did. You can't tell me that you didn't enjoy it as well."

Claudia blushed. "Well...yeah, but what we did...Do you really like me...in that way?"

"Would you be angry if I said yes?"  
"Yes, I would."  
"Then fine, I don't. I was drunk."

He felt like crap for saying it, but he didn't want to admit that he kissed her willingly, and that he honestly didn't have that much to drink last night.

"Fine. Get out," Claudia ordered.  
"Gladly."

He left her bedroom, and took a shower. He changed into his school uniform, and he heard Mrs Stratford come in just as he was getting himself some breakfast.

"Oh, Shane dear," She greeted. "How lovely to see you again. Your father told me about your sleepover from the party. Did you two have a good time?"

 _Yeah, it was great, right up until a few minutes ago, but thanks for asking._ "Yes, we had a great time. Mrs Stratford...I..." _What? You're going to what, ask her permission to date Claudia? How old are you, man?_ "Can we talk?"

She checked her phone, and tucked it back in her purse. "Of course, hon. Let me get the servants to cook everyone up breakfast, I won't hear of you only having pop tarts when you play Soccer."

Shane chuckled, "Okay, I'm game. I've got coffee for us."

Everything was prepared, and Shane sat down across from Emily Stratford at the kitchen table.

They stared at each other, and he bucked up the courage to go first,  
"I...I might have crossed the friendship line with Claudia last night, and now things are awkward."

Mrs Stratford sipped her coffee, blowing on it daintily, "I'm not surprised. You two have known each other a long time, and I secretly hoped that I would get you as a son in law one day," She winked.

"Whoa, I'm not nearly ready for that."

She laughed, and then turned serious, "Do you love her, Shane? I have to know that. She has dated some real jerks in middle school, as you are aware."

He thought about it for a long time as he drank his coffee. "Yes. Yes, I do. But...but I'm scared. What if she doesn't feel the same way? We're both young, and still in school."

Shane was about to answer, but he heard Claudia come down the stairs. She looked surprised about something, but then he realized that she had heard some of their conversation.

"I...I'm not sure what I feel to be honest," She admitted. "Do you really feel that way?"

Shane blushed, and hugged her. She hugged him back. "Yeah. Yeah, I do. And it's why I never got into dating after the whole Trina thing two years ago, because I realized that it's always been you, Claude. But we can take it slow if you want."

Claudia breathed out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, I think I would like that."

He lifted up her hand and kissed it. Claudia blushed, and laughed, "What is this, you're going to go all Romeo on me all of a sudden?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I am in the drama club, and it's kinda what I want to be when I go to college, but I haven't told my dad yet."

Mrs Stratford laughed, "Knowing Zachary Ashford as I do, he would be quite put out that his son wants to be an actor. But let's eat, and get ready to go, I have a meeting to get to in half an hour."

They agreed, and Mrs Stratford's driver drove them to school in one of the black Lincoln town cars. Shane noticed his drama club friends, and he hugged both Stratford ladies before going to his theater friends to rehash who was going to play Ophelia in the school's production of Hamlet since Jenna, the lead since day one found out she got knocked up, and her parents pulled her out of school to deal with 'the issue,' as they called it. He watched Claudia go to Aimee and Leo, and wished suddenly that things weren't so awkward as they had become in just the space of a night....


End file.
